This repository consolidates applied backend engineering work completed throughout the Back-End Developer Professional Certificate program delivered by Microsoft on Coursera. The focus extends beyond coursework — integrating layered API design, authentication systems, data access optimisation, and CI/CD workflows into a cohesive, production-style backend system.
In here you will find:
- 🏛 Capstone Project – Production-style logistics API – For full documentation see
capstone/README.md. - ⭐ Featured Projects – Curated algorithm, system design, and DevOps demonstrations.
- 🧩 Practice Projects – Focused implementations of backend concepts.
- 📚 Explanatory Notes – Technical breakdowns for each course module.
- 📈 Living Portfolio – Continuous improvements and refinements.
- Clean architecture & layered API design
- Secure authentication & authorisation systems
- Performance-aware backend development
- Scalable system design fundamentals
- DevOps-driven deployment workflows
- Separation of concerns & layered design
- Dependency inversion & constructor-based injection
- Stateless REST API architecture
- Idempotent endpoint design principles
- Structured exception handling & middleware pipelines
- Performance-aware data access patterns
- C#
- .NET / ASP.NET Core
- Entity Framework Core
- SQL Server + SQLite
- Redis for Distributed Caching
- YARP for Load Balancing
- JWT / Bearer Authentication
- ASP.NET Core Identity
- Swagger / OpenAPI
- xUnit + FluentAssertions + Moq
- Git & GitHub
- GitHub Actions
- Azure CLI
- Azure DevOps
.
├── notes/ → Structured theory notes (per course & module)
├── practices/ → Hands-on exercises & focused demos
├── capstone/ → LogiTrack production-style API project
├── certificates/ → Completion certificates
└── README.md
This structure ensures full traceability from:
Theory → Isolated Practice → Integrated System Design
The specialisation consists of 8 courses covering modern backend engineering with C#, .NET, databases, security, performance, and DevOps:
1. Course: Foundations of Coding Back-End
- Algorithm basics & logical problem-solving
- Programming fundamentals (control structures, functions)
- Git, project planning, and development workflows
2. Course: Introduction to Programming with C#
- Object-oriented programming in C#
- Asynchronous programming with
async/await - Project architecture in .NET
3. Course: Back-End Development with .NET
- Building RESTful APIs with ASP.NET Core
- Middleware, dependency injection, and routing
- Serialisation, error handling, and OpenAPI (Swagger) integration
4. Course: Database Integration and Management
- Entity Framework Core and ORM fundamentals
- SQL querying, joins, and data manipulation
- Transactions, performance tuning, and database security
5. Course: Security and Authentication
- ASP.NET Identity and user management
- JWT-based authentication and RBAC
- Data encryption and secure storage practices
6. Course: Performance Optimisation and Scalability
- In-memory and distributed caching (Redis)
- Query optimisation and indexing strategies
- Scalable architecture patterns and load balancing
7. Course: Data Structures and Algorithms
- Linear data structures and complexity analysis (Big O)
- Sorting, searching, trees and graph algorithms
- Trade-offs between dynamic programming vs. greedy algorithms
8. Course: Deployment and DevOps
- Deploying applications to Azure
- CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps
- Monitoring, logging, and automated deployment scripts
The capstone project (capstone/) is a structured backend system simulating a logistics and inventory management API called LogiTrack. For more detailed documentation please check out the capstone/README.md.
### from repository root
cd capstone/src/LogiTrack.Api
dotnet runLogiTrack/
├── LogiTrack.Api/
│ ├── Contracts → DTOs for API requests and responses
│ ├── Controllers → REST API endpoints
│ ├── Data → Entity Framework DbContext and database access
│ ├── Models → Domain entities and data models
│ ├── Requests → Request models used for input validation
│ ├── Services → Business logic and application workflows
│ └── Program.cs → Application startup and middleware configuration
└── LogiTrack.Api.Tests/
├── Controllers → API endpoint tests
├── Data → Repository and data access tests
├── Models → Model validation tests
└── Services → Business logic tests
- Clean Controller-Service separation
- DTO pattern
- Dependency Injection
- Entity Framework Core integration
- CRUD operations
- Unit testing
- Role-Based Access Control
- JWT authentication
- Performance optimisation with caching
- Structured middleware configuration
- API documentation via Swagger/OpenAPI
This project reflects real-world layering, maintainability principles, and backend best practices.
A curated selection of projects demonstrating key backend engineering concepts, algorithmic thinking, and DevOps automation.
-
(E41) SafeVaultApp
(➤)
Secure ASP.NET Core API demonstrating JWT authentication, role-based access control, password hashing, and MySQL-backed user storage. -
(G11) LinearDataSupportTicketApi
(➤)
ASP.NET Core Web API demonstrating arrays, queues, stacks, and linked lists through a support ticket workflow. -
(G32) GraphCampusNavigator
(➤)
Graph traversal and shortest-path algorithms (DFS, BFS, Dijkstra, A*) in a campus navigation scenario. -
(G33) LoadBalancingAlgorithmsDemo
(➤)
Simulation of request routing strategies including Round Robin, Least Connections, Weighted Round Robin, and IP Hashing. -
(G43) GreedyVsDynamicScheduler
(➤)
Comparison of greedy scheduling and dynamic programming for weighted interval scheduling optimisation. -
(H42) PipelineGenerationDemo
(➤)
Demonstrates how AI tools can generate CI/CD pipelines for GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps.
The practices/ directory contains focused implementation projects demonstrating backend engineering concepts, algorithmic thinking, and DevOps workflows.
Each project mirrors a small real-world scenario and focuses on a specific backend technique or architectural concept. For detailed information about each project, see the README.md inside its directory.
### from repository root
cd practices/C21_BasicApi
dotnet restore
dotnet run- CRUD APIs with ASP.NET Core
- EF Core database integration demos
- JWT-secured APIs
- Role-based authentication systems
- In-memory and Redis caching demos
- Load balancing simulation
- Async processing pipelines
- Algorithm implementations (Sorting, Searching, Graphs, Dynamic Programming)
- CI/CD demos with GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps
Each practice project is isolated in its own solution file (.sln) to mirror real-world development environments.
The notes/ directory contains:
- Module-by-module breakdowns
- Architecture explanations
- Diagrams & flowcharts
- Reflections & best practices
- Practical design considerations
notes/
├── (A) Foundations of Coding Back-End
├── (B) Introduction to Programming with C-Sharp
├── (C) Back-End Development with .NET
├── (D) Database Integration and Management
├── (E) Security and Authentication
├── (F) Performance Optimisation and Scalability
├── (G) Data Structures and Algorithms
├── (H) Deployment and DevOps
└── (X) Capstone Project
These notes document the technical concepts explored throughout the program and provide deeper explanations behind the implementations found in the practice projects and capstone.
This repository represents a backend engineering portfolio covering:
- Structured backend engineering training
- Applied architectural thinking
- Secure API implementation
- Performance-aware system design
- DevOps-integrated deployment workflows
It serves as a comprehensive backend engineering portfolio demonstrating production-ready development practices.
Feel free to:
- Clone or fork the repository
- Explore the capstone and practice projects
- Study the notes and implemented architectural principles
- Adapt or extend the projects for your own learning
This repository contains original work created by the author for learning and portfolio purposes. It is intended for educational and personal learning only. All course materials and assignments from the Coursera program remain the property of Microsoft and Coursera.
I hope this repository serves as both a learning guide and a showcase of applied backend engineering skills.
Happy coding! 🚀